Shifting conceptualization of control in agile transformations

Abstract

Agile transformation implies that organizations apply agile methods also outside of software development units. One particular way of doing such transformations is to create cross-functional software development units. This represents new challenges for control for organizations as the unformal agile control mechanisms from the software units meet the more formal, bureaucratic and hierarchical control from other units. The research on how to manage control in agile transformations, however, is scarce. Through a case study of a new, cross-functional unit in a financial institution, we report on their work to implement control in agile transformations. To analyze our results, we draw on new perspectives for control in the digital era, which challenges existing presumptions on control. Our findings indicate how agile transformations require rethinking traditional control mechanisms and experiment with new control perspectives more suitable for the digital era.